About our Woods

As Boori parents are very discerning, we're often asked about the wood used to make our products. When you're shopping for furniture, you'll often see the phrase 'made from solid wood' with no further explanation about the qualities of the timber or where it's come from - so we wanted to avoid any confusion and tell you all about our woods here.

Our product development team travel the world to seek out the best timbers for our products. We look for trees with beautiful, even grains and with less tendency towards knots or imperfections. Crucially, we choose wood that is hard-wearing enough to withstand the knocks of every day life with children - the timbers we choose are well known for their strength and durability.

The wood we use for our products can vary between products and between colours. This is because we want to make sure we use the timber that will best suit that individual product. Some wood grains look better with different colours, while our white paint dazzles when paired with a paler wood. So the woods we use have all been initially selected for their strength and durability, and are then paired with particular colours to create the best look.

Plus, all of our wood comes from certified sustainable well-managed forests.

Find out more about our timbers and the products they're used with below...

Australian Araucaria

As a proud Australian brand, Araucaria is the obvious choice to be used across the majority of our products.

Source:
Queensland, Australia

Other names:
Bunya Pine
Hoop Pine

Properties:
Fine, even texture; straight grain; light yellow-brown in colour

Why we use it:
Araucaria is a strong and durable wood having been favoured by cabinet makers and woodworkers for over a century. The uniformity of the grain and texture means we can rely on it to produce a consistently beautiful finish. Araucaria is used for all our cot bases and slats.

Fun fact:
The Monkey Puzzle tree is part of the Araucaria family from Chile.

Yellow Poplar

Source:
East coast, North America

Other names:
Tulip Tree
Tulip Poplar

Properties:
Medium texture; straight, uniform grain; light cream to pale yellow in colour

Why we use it:
Yellow Poplar is used for the cot sides and rails on our Eton Convertible Plus^™™ and Eton Expandable^™™ in White. This is because it is lighter in colour, providing an excellent base for our white paints to look bright and pristine.

Fun Fact:
Yellow Poplar is often used in organs as it can take a fine, precisely cut finish to effectively seal against pipes and valves.

Cottonwood

Source:
Widespread across North America

Other names:
Eastern cottonwood

Properties:
Medium texture; generally straight grain; light brown to pale yellow in colour

Why we use it:
Cottonwood is used in all Provence cot sides, and for the cot sides and rails in our Natural coloured products. In the Urbane by Boori range, it is used for the cot sides and rails for the Lucia Convertible Plus^™™ in Almond and the cot sides of the Omni Transformer^™™.

In all cases, Cottonwood is chosen for its ease of working, and for its natural colour providing an excellent base for our more natural-looking colours.

Fun Fact:
Cottonwood bark is a favourite medium for American artisans as it is very soft and easy to carve.

European Beech

Source:
Widespread throughout Europe

Properties:
Fine to medium texture; straight grain; moderate lustre; pale cream in colour

Why we use it:
European Beech is used throughout our Boori Kids range for its strength and durability. It is also used on the Dawn Expandable^™™ and Dawn dresser in Beech and White for its beautiful natural colour and texture.

Fun fact:
Beech trees that have been coppiced can live for up to 1000 years.

American Sycamore

Source:
USA

Other names:
American plane tree
Buttonwood

Properties:
Fine even texture; interlocked grain; reddish brown in colour

Why we use it:
Sycamore is used for the Honey-coloured parts of the Provence collection. It is chosen for its beautiful colour and grain.

Fun Fact:
The terms under which the New York Stock Exchange was formed are called the ‘Buttonwood Agreement’ because it was signed under a sycamore tree in 1792.

A Note About Veneers

Because wood can warp and move over time, we proudly include veneers in some products to keep them looking perfect for longer. We created our veneer ourselves from the very same wood we use in the rest of our furniture, making it the highest quality, as well as an environmentally sound and traditional product.